5:20 AM Wed 5 Aug 2009 GMT
Superyachts are joining private jets and entering a lean period of sales and demand as the ultra-high net worth love affair with yachting is hit by the credit crunch. Laurent Perignon, director of marketing at yacht builder Camper & Nicholsons International, said: "The overnight market collapse at the end of September 2008 triggered a change, and most probably an irreversible one, in the large-yacht industry."
A record number of owners put their superyachts up for sale last year: at the end of 2008, 1,600 in all - 38% of the world's 4,207 live and launched superyachts. And buyers will be scarcer than last year. Global superyacht sales were down a fifth in value terms last year to $2.6bn (?1.8bn), according to the index from Camper & Nicholsons and information provider Luxury Institute. The 289ft Maltese Falcon was put on the market for ?115m in March 2008 by its owner, but the price was cut to ?99m ($140m) six months later - and now it is down to ?70m. So more people are chartering. There was a 50% rise in chartering by value on 2007 to $500m, and a 25% increase in chartering weeks booked, reaching 3,500 in 2008.
Beleaguered manufacturers and those looking to sell their superyachts are hoping demand in emerging markets can save the day.Luca Cristino, a manager at Italian yacht builder Azimut, said: "The Asian market, particularly China and Hong Kong, is one of our most important and fast-growing areas of growth, with around 20% of our growth coming from there in 2008." Cristino added there was increasing demand from Latin America last year, although orders have dropped substantially from Russia's wealthy. Last year, Azimut had 50 Russian clients, this year it has none.
Oyster Marine, a superyacht builder, has also reported healthy growth in Asia. Earlier this year it opened an office in Hong Kong and expects sales in China and Hong Kong to grow from less than 10% last year to 30% over the next few years. Chief executive David Tydeman said: "The UK market has been challenged, but exporting to China is helping demand."
Full story:
www.wealth-bulletin.com/rich-life/rich-monitor/content/1054858475/
by Tara Loader Wilkinson, Wealth Monitor
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Macquarie Island, TAS
